Overview

Can they finish it off? That’s the big question in Division I, where Ridgefield made a statement to start the season and hasn’t let up for three months. The top-seeded Tigers have a first-round bye so need three wins to put up the state’s first unbeaten, untied season in 36 years.

There are plenty of teams that could deprive them of that glory, teams that played them tough, like Darien, Fairfield Prep, Xavier, Simsbury. Second-seeded Northwest Catholic had a solid season. Darien, Hamden and the Jesuits round out the top-five seeds.

The seeds align so that the past three champions could all be in the semifinals. If it’s Ridgefield-Fairfield Prep there again (of which there’s sure no guarantee), it’d be the second year in a row they meet there and the third year in a row they meet in the state playoffs.

Seeded upsets on the horizon?

Greenwich went from preseason darlings to midseason afterthoughts, but the Cardinals dumped both New Canaan and Darien in the FCIAC tournament. Seeded 10th, they’ll get a fourth game against No. 7 New Canaan on Tuesday. The winner gets No. 2 Northwest Catholic, which beat both of them in January.

The final four

Champion

The preseason pick was Fairfield Prep. The gut, honestly, doesn’t doubt the Jesuits, might be looking for anyone to pick against Ridgefield. It’s hard to go undefeated. It took a future NHLer to do it the last time anyone got it done, Craig Janney’s Enfield team in 1982-83. The head says Ridgefield has the depth, the talent and the experience to be next, over Darien in the final.

Overview

Division II has been the tournament where, traditionally, a lot of the weird stuff happens: Parity through the middle, disparity in conferences producing 13th seeds winning back-to-back championships, No. 5s and No. 7s in the finals, that kind of thing.

The chalk has held a lot more the past few seasons, though. And with some strong SCC/SWC teams leading the pack, it could once again. But there’s also a pack of good CCC teams right behind them who could throw a wrench into that.

If Watertown/Pomperaug and Guilford are going to play one of their modern-traditional one-goal playoff battles this year, it’d have to be in the final (and W/P would have to buck the trend: Guilford has knocked it out of the state playoffs the past two seasons).

Seeded upsets on the horizon?

They played early in the year, and No. 5 South Windsor beat No. 12 North Branford 4-1. The Thunderbirds, though, came on in the second half. No. 10 Farmington Valley, the defending champion, opens against No. 7 East Catholic, which had a nice year but lost twice to the Generals in the regular season.

The final four

Champion

The preseason pick was… Conard. Yeah. The urge was to go with a goalie who could steal a couple of games in March, and, well, Watertown/Pomperaug’s Ryan Fleming probably should’ve been that goalie in the first place. There are other goalies in this division who can do it, too, in all corners of the bracket, but he’s the pick as the tournament starts, maybe in yet another Guilford classic.

Overview

Hand had a dominant regular season. It went 7-2 against Division I or Division II teams, and its 66 power points were the most for a Division III team in seven years, 19 more than this year’s No. 2, LHK. Still, it had its hiccups both in league play (LHK took down the Tigers early) and in the SCC/SWC playoffs (Fourth-seeded Sheehan beat them 2-1 in the semifinals).

No. 3 Newington had a strong season, and No. 5 JBWA played some high-scoring games.

Seeded upsets on the horizon?

If No. 2 LHK is as flat as it was in the conference tournament, it sure doesn’t have a gimme quarter; Tag Weiss will make saves for No. 15 Masuk, and No. 7 New Milford had a competitive season.

The final four

No. 1 Hand, No. 4 Sheehan, No. 7 New Milford, No. 3 Newington.

Champion

The preseason pick was Sheehan. The Titans closed strong, avenged their only two losses in Division III and have a goalie at the top of his game. Hand has the kind of depth that will always be an advantage at this time of year, and Newington has yet to lose to a Division III team this year, but might as well stick with Sheehan over Newington.